It was a semi-weird-like deja vu reading that thread I linked. I’m sort of back to where I started back then.
I trained for a year and ran a sub-20 two years ago. I ran base mileage thru the winter of 21-22, and ran a sub 1:40 half in Spring 2022.
This past year of work has seen long hours at a desk, and I took this past winter off.
If I wish to keep training like those two workouts I posted over the past couple of days, then I probably should renew my gym membership to get to a pool.
I am in my late 40s and wanted to up my 5k pace to improve my marathon pace. Got it down to low 17s (from 19 mid) purely by adding weekly 400 repeats at speed above target pace and 4x4s.
Day 4, June 22, ‘23 Today I went to the track late morning, rather than at sunset during the previous two workouts, and it was a sunny day. The summer temps are ramping-up here in corn-country. The ‘feels like’ temp when I left the track was 88deg (but the National Weather Service says full-sunlight can add as much as an additional 10-15 deg to the Heat Index.)
I repeated the threshold/5k-pace(?) 8x400m workout performed on Day 1.
Typical cadence in the reps was 180spm at 1.24m stride length.
Post-workout Garmin 5k estimate: 19:44.
This workout was much more challenging in the heat, but I generally maintained threshold breathing of 2-out/2-in.
After a few weeks, I should have a better idea on the trajectory with this kind of training. It is essentially building base-fitness, rather than the tail-end-sharpening off-of-a-base. If I continue with patience, I’m guesstimating maybe I actually can approach 20min by the time of a Turkey Trot.
Ran 19:45 last year at 65. Most used EIM (Easy Interval Method) until about five weeks out - I tend to peak quickly - then switched race pace intervals 6x800m or 5x1000m once a week - and ran a 2 mile time trial about two weeks out.
Cavority, I’m stunned, because you jogged my memory, and I performed a search. Remember ‘Cyprus girl’? I’m stunned because I forgot the fitness I attained, and the workouts (double-thresholds) I was doing a couple of years ago.
Charlie and others, thank you, I've got a 20:41 maybe I need to adjust my goals to sub 20:30
I am not in shape to do a 6:25 for three yet
+1
What can you run for an all out 3k? I always found that test was a great indicator of 5k shape. Can you run 11:45 - 11:50? If so, sub 20 for 5k is possible.
Cavority, I’m stunned, because you jogged my memory, and I performed a search. Remember ‘Cyprus girl’? I’m stunned because I forgot the fitness I attained, and the workouts (double-thresholds) I was doing a couple of years ago.
In a two-year-old thread in which we conversed, Cavority, I wrote the following:
“…I sometimes 'open it up' in select workouts (and/or races), neglecting to modulate the intensity via a pre-determined Heart Rate (or pace). One such workout a couple of weeks ago was a 5x1000m/3min Recovery at the track: 3:47, 3:48, 3:56, 3:56, 3:52.”
Somewhat shocking. But I was seriously training back then, and I think my diet included some vitamins, and even liquid iron.
Thank you for the feedback! As mentioned earlier, in my experience, I’ve found the Garmin estimate to be way-too-optimistic when typical sessions are heavily skewed to faster-repetition stuff.
However, I think (details are fuzzy) Cavority stated in the past his Garmin estimate was not too out-of-skew when he was doing predominantly “Easy Interval Method”.
As someone in this ballpark, a 19:20 runner can comfortably do 6x800 with 2:00 rest in 3:10, and might do it under 3:00 as a hard 3K-pace workout.
So very strange for Garmin to make that projection.
A 19:20 is at 6:13 mile pace; 3:10 is ~6:20 pace. Daniels says threshold for a 19:20 guy is 6:39, and 6:20 lies midway between their 5k-10k paces.
Following that logic, a 20min guy should be able to do 6x800 with 2:00 rest in 3:17 “comfortably”, since 6:34 lies midway between his 5k-10k paces.
I did these “comfortably” with 2:00 rest at ~7:30 pace, a pace which lies midway between 5k-10k paces for a 22:22 guy, having corresponding threshold pace of 7:38.
So yeah, I’d likely be challenged to break 22min, currently.